After leaving Peoria on Monday and spending a few days in Michigan hanging out with family and friends and doing some work, I made it to Bear this evening. At first glance, everything aboard looks good, but I will really inspect – along with clean – everything tomorrow and see for sure.
Bear about an hour after I arrived this evening.
I have a long list of work to do on the boat. I will share our complete spring work spreadsheet in a few days, but the jobs that are looming largest in my mind include some engine work (in reality, it is relatively minor, but anything related to the engine seems like a big job to me), rebuilding our anchor locker, and fixing our autopilot. It is certainly nice not to have a big project like replacing the rigging (2015) or moving to external chainplates (2016), but the work above and about three dozen other projects will keep me busy for the next month.
Speaking of the future, our plan for the summer has not changed (at least not yet!). I will be here in Rock Hall working on Bear until early May. At that point, a friend of ours will be helping me bring Bear up to Newport, where Margaret will meet us after finishing her semester. We plan to hang out in Newport for a week or so as we get some sewing jobs and other boat projects done. From there, it will be out to Cape Cod and Martha’s Vineyard before heading to Maine around mid-June.